Morning all.
Hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday and heads are not to sore this morning. Mine is clear but then I was driving so there you go.
Football returns after a very short break and as we head to Brighton we do so with yet another injury. Our injury crisis and yes, it’s getting that way, could seriously dent our top four hopes if players don’t come back soon. It’s as bad now as it used to be, if not worse as far as numbers go.
As Potter said the other day, let’s get these next two games over and see where we are. If things look no better on the fitness front then use the January transfer window. Even if we complete a couple of loan deals to see us through to the summer it would be better than soldiering on regardless.
Unai Emery said that three points are three points regardless of who we play and having previously suggested he should perhaps rest Torreira as he’s one booking away from a ban, I was wrong. Play our strongest today to give us the best chance of securing maximum points. Worry about our trip to Anfield in three days time.
Brighton have defender Shane Duffy back after his three match ban which is a good job for them as suspended for this one is fellow defender Lewis Dunk. Thanks Mike Dean. Jahanbakhsh and Izquierdo are also missing for the home team.
For us, Mkhitaryan, Monreal, Mustafi, Bellerin, Welbeck, Holding, Mavropanos and Emile Smith Rowe are ruled out. Regardless, Unai Emery has options, certainly more than Arsene Wenger had in his day. I’d imagine we’ll see a similar team to the one which started against Burnley although Koscielny and Lichtsteiner might return and Ozil might again make way for a more hard working player as we’re away from home.
Whoever plays, let’s hope for a solid performance and three big points..
Enjoy Boxing Day guys, see you in the comments later..
Good morning Rico, back to football and cold turkey.
The Torreira conundrum is a problem that Emery seems to have brushed aside. Play the strongest team possible against Brighton and let the Liverpool game look after itself. “The same three points are in Brighton that are in Liverpool and we are going to play first in Brighton. It’s a tough match and we will need every player with 100% focus. I don’t want him to think about the possibility of a suspension for one yellow card”.
One game at a time. Can’t really argue with that.
Morning all.
Belated merry Christmas to you Rico and all the host of housers, one and all.
Brighton today. What ever happened to the Hove and the Albion? Not such a small team these days. They’ve come a very long way from their near extinction and the Withdean Stadium. Currently they have a lovely new ground, a very capable manager and a highly competitive team. Our game today is full of danger!
I feel that despite a much depleted squad we should have enough to beat Brighton, but it may be, only just! Still, it’s festive football day. We should all enjoy the game, albeit from the comfort of a fireside chair😀
Dull and grey here. Not very Christmassy.
I remember trips to the goldstone ground in the 70’s.I had 4 customers in the area and timed my visits for night games. They were a pre retirement team for many either over or approaching the hill players.
Today not so much .They are capable of causing an upset and we must be careful that we don’t get one today.As has been said today’s 3 points count the same as Liverpool’s and they will count the same at season’s end.
Afternoon all!
Boxing Day in United Kingdon, Belgium and Italy.
Concern with the match today but Liverpool also plays today.
The injuries everbody know them since two days ago.
Time enought for prepare the squad for the next challenges.
no excuses.
2 shots outside area 2 goals. the 2 opportunities for Totts
One is deflected in a back and other was a gift by a defender.
Afternoon Cicero, all.
Thanks Wavy.. hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and Boxing Day….
Team news:
Leno
Lichtsteiner
Sokratis
Koscielny
Kolasinac
Xhaka
Guendouzi
Torreira
Ozil
Lacazette
Aubameyang
Substitutes
Cech
Maitland-Niles
Elneny
Willock
Ramsey
Iwobi
Nketiah
Leno, Lichtsteiner, Koscielny, Kolasinac, Sokratis, Torreria, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ozil, Aubameyang and Lacazette.
You beat me to it Rico. 😉
Only just Cicero… lol
Surprised to see Ozil in there. Let’s hope he has an impact on the game..
Ramsey will be sell i January, sure
Me too Jm, because he’d be starting otherwise imo.
What a lay off by Lichtsteiner, right into the path of Locadia, does that count as an assist?
Very disappointing attitudes out there.
Good start then it all went downhill…
Something is seriously missing..
Ozil nd Liechteiner are more in the Arsenal.
They have no progress for the Premier League.
They were good players but the age and its time already has.
I’m not sure how much more of this garbage I can, or want, to watch. There is no pace in our play, no zip on our passing and very little accuracy in it either.
Evening Gooners.
Evening Rico.
Anyone thinking that Arsenal are going to get anything at Anfield should really have woken from any fantasy they may have had if they’re watching us at Brighton ‘at this moment in time’…
I’m with you on that one Cicero. Pathetic really.
Even Torreria is having a bad game, he looks knackered to me, as does Guendouzi.
Last chance with a corner.
We’re lucky to get away with a point.
Awful match.
I think I’ll give Fridays match a swerve. I dread it…
utter garbage…
Utter shit.
That was just an insipid, uninspired performance.
December is the new November.
emery has had plenty of plaudits, but we needed fire power today his substitutes were wrong and had little no affect imo it cost us.
sign harry Maguire in January at least he can clear a long ball fs.
Liverpool to put 3 or 4 in.. quite easily imo.
Arsenal started well and ended badly.
There is no team that can withstand 4 tactical changes in a single game.
He unbalanced the team after the break, saw the error, changed everything, it did not work, changed again. N 2nd half we had almost zero opportunities and we made Brighton comfortable in the game.
Iwoby is lost in the team; Ramsey is unmotivated; always removes Lacazette the pillar of the attacking game.
Evening Kev.
I’m with you too Cicero, it’s really awful to watch. We were lucky to draw in the end..
If Solly March wasn’t crap we’d probably have lost that game.
Rico. Did we win? I missed that bit.
Rico, wishful thinking?
🙂
Adam, maybe you fell asleep and who could blame you lol
Scott. My wife tells me I passed out for a few minutes. 🙂
We would Adam.
Swerving the match Scott? I’m serious..
City lost again which is a surprise..
One more defensive mistake cost us two more points. The team was well in the game, could have scored again and be more comfortable in the game and stopped being. More than the team, the coach remained.
The Totts are paly much better then us. That’s the realitty.
Rico. It’s nothing another quarter of a billion wouldn’t fix.
Rico, nah, I meant the “lucky to win” bit 🙂
Unless a miracle occurs, Liverpool should demolish us!!!
Adam, I have a blank spot in memory that lasts a touch over 90 minutes, and I count myself fortunate lol
I’m really putting this down to injuries, and also the fact we’ve battled well all season to this point with only a few games of proper quality, and that’ll take time to sort.
That quarter of a billion could certainly help us 🙂
For what’s its worth, a FB mate is a Citeh ST holder and also gets to every single away game each season.
He and his mates are fuming with Pep.
They reckon he’s too busy trying to prove how much smarter he is than other managers by playing players out of position and employing tactics not really suited to the opposition.
Maybe he’s done it all and is just bored.
Don’t know what happened there Adam/Scott. I meant to type we were lucky to get a draw…..
Very true Adam, same goes for us. 😜
Where do we go from here ?
Against Brighton we learned that without Ozil there is no creation and with hin there are gaps in the midfield for players to run through.
He got hooked yesterday because he let their scorer run and passed him on to Guendouzi when it was too late to get close.With him we need an extra midfielder without we can play auba and Lacazette. It seems that he unbalances the team but adds in other ways.
To Anfield Potter… lol
Seriously, that’s a million dollar question perhaps resolved by a few million dollar signings..
New post up now